Cancer is presently one of the leading causes of death in developed nations. Although recent research has vastly increased our understanding of many of the molecular mechanisms of tumorigenesis and has provided numerous new avenues for the treatment of cancer, standard treatments for most malignancies remain gross resection, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy. While increasingly successful, each of these treatments may cause numerous undesired side effects. For example, surgery may result in pain, traumatic injury to healthy tissue, and scarring. Radiotherapy and chemotherapy may cause nausea, immune suppression, gastric ulceration and secondary tumorigenesis.
Improved methods for the treatment of diseases, including cancer, and compositions capable of delivering bioactive agents to aid in the treatment of diseases and other conditions remain desirable.